Wearing shoes for ore separators



,Sept. 16, 1952 E. c. BlT-ZER 2,610,739

WEARING SHOES Fo R ORE SEPARATORS Filed on. 27, 1950 Zhmenlor EDMUND C. BITZER attorneys Patented Sept. 16, 1952 -WEARING SHOES FOR ORE SEPABATORS Edmund C. Bitzer, Denver, 0010., assignor to Colorado Iron Works Company, Denver, 0010., a corporation of Maine Application October 27, 1950, Serial No; 192,479

This. invention. relates to oreseparators and more particularly towearing shoes. employed on the spiral flights of the conveyors for same and is a continuation-in-part of my copending application, Serial No. 173,406, filed July ,12, 1950, now abandoned.

In ore separators, such as the well-known Akins type, it is common practiceto provide replaceable wearing shoes on the peripheral edges of the spiral conveyor flight or flights. These shoes are usually formed with smooth circular outer edges and a substantially flat raking face. In operation, they form a smooth cylindrical trough of abrasive ore in the classifier tank whichabrades the outer edges of the shoes causing'the edges to wear more rapidly than. the raking faces,v and as they wear to smaller diameter the raking capacity of the classifier is reduced.

One of the objectsof this invention is to provide an improved wearing-shoe which is more resistant to wear.

Another object is to provide a shoe which wears more evenly on its various parts.

Another object is to reduce the friction load between the wearing shoes and the ore bed, thus reducing power requirements.

A further object is to rake the ore bed in a novel manner which improves drainage of liquid therethrough.

Still further objects, advantages, and salient features will become more apparent from a consideration of the description to follow, the appended claims, and the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective of an ore separator, portions being shown in transverse section;

Figure 2 is a top plan of one form of wearing shoe which constitutes the subject of the invention;

Figure 3 is a side elevation of Figure 2 as viewed in the direction of arrow 3, portions being broken away;

Figure 4 is an enlarged section taken on line 4-4, Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a section taken on line 5--5, Figure 3, at a point wherein the wearing shoes engage the ore bed; and

Figure 6 is a top plan, similar to Figure 2, 1

showing a modification of the invention.

Referring in detail to the drawing, and particularly Figure 1, the separator I0 comprises a tank II and a spiral conveyor flight l2 supported for rotation by shaft l3. The axis of 6 Claims. (0l.209464) 2 rotation I4 of the shaft I3 is lnclined'to the horizontal so that it-moves materialupwardlyin the direction of arrow IS. The ore bed l6, previously referred to, is formed between the conveyor'and tank, this forming the abrasive means which causes the shoes 11 towear.

Referring to Figures 2 to 5, each shoe comprises a segment which has a face [8 the shape of the warped surface formed by a family of helices, the facef orming a raking surface which moves material upwardly in the inclined tank. The periphery of the segment is provided with integral teeth I9, the teeth being formed with front faces 20 which are at'an angle A to a radial line 2|, that is, angle A may be termed a positive rake angle analogous to the positive rake angle of a cutting tool. The front face of each tooth is substantially rectangular, as best shown-in Figure 4, the side edges of the teeth beingparallel as indicated by lines 22, 22a. Each tooth is also tapered in thickness'as shown by line 23, being narrower at its leading face 20 than at its trailing portion 24. The outer surfaces of each tooth have a portion 25 which is substantially circular and a non-radial portion 26, as best shown in Figure 3.

The toothed segments are secured to the conveyor flight in any desired manner, such as by fiat headed screws 21, provided with nuts 28 which abut the trailing side of the flights, as best shown in Figure 4. Secondary inner shoes 29 may be similarly secured to the flights by screws 30, these shoes being adapted to take a portion of the wear, but not as much as the outer shoes. The shoes may be cast or otherwise formed of any hard material such as white iron.

In operation, the serrated or toothed shoes plow the ore bed l6 so that they move through a less consolidated abrasive mass rather than against a smooth, hard abrading surface. The flight rotates in the direction of arrow 3 I, and as shown in Figure 5, at least a portion of the trailing edge 32 is disposed in a plane indicated by line 34 which intersects, or is ahead of, the edge 22a of the next trailing tooth. It will be apparent that as the forward tooth moves through the ore bed it the material of the ore bed will be moved by the forward raking face 23 of a tooth in the direction of arrow l5, and when edge 22a, as shown in Figure 5, reaches the position of particle l6a, this and other particles of the bed will be engaged principally by the forward raking face 23 of the trailing tooth, rather than by its front face 20, which minimizes wear on the front face 20 and effects the greater portion of wear on the forward raking face 23, this producing more uniform tooth wear to maintain the teeth of optimum shape.

The construction shown in Figure 6 is similar to the one previously described except that the teeth I911 taper in thickness on both sides, that is, forward edges 22b and 220 are both disposed between opposite faces of the shoe. As shown, the teeth are symmetrical about a perpendicular plane extending through their longitudinal axes but it is to be understood that the amount of taper on each side may be divided as desired, and of course, as shown in Figures 1 to 5, may be all on one side. The choice of taper will depend, among other things, on the pitch of the teeth and the helix angle thereof to effect a raking action as explained in connection with Figure 5.

Having described the invention, what I claim as new is:

- 1. An ore separator comprising an inclined tank containing ore and liquid, a rotatable ore moving member having a spiral flight disposed in the tank, and a plurality of wearing shoes secured to said flight adjacent it peripheral edge, said shoes having teeth thereon that extendbeyond the peripheral edge and form means adapted to rake into and loosen an ore bed disposed between the flight and tank, whereby the bed is maintained unconsolidated, liquid drainage therethrough is increased, and frictional drag between the bed and wearing shoes is reduced.

2. A spiral flight for use with ore separators of the type wherein the flight is rotatably mounted in the tank and the tank is adapted to hold an ore bed between it and the flight, said flight comprising; a plurality of segmental wearing shoes secured to its edge forming a radial extension thereof, said shoes having teeth thereon that project beyond the peripheral edge of the flight and form means that rake into the ore bed and loosen the same.

3. A shoe in accordance with claim 2 wherein said teeth are thinner at their leading faces than at their trailing portions.

4. A shoe in accordance with claim 2 wherein the leading faces of the teeth are disposed at a positive rake angle.

5. A shoe in accordance with claim 2 wherein said teeth are thinner at their leading faces than at their trailing portions and the leading faces are disposed at a positive rake angle.

6. A wearing shoe for attachment to the spiral flight of an ore separator wherein the flight is mounted for rotation about an inclined axis in an inclined tank, the tank being adapted to hold an ore bed between it and the flight, said shoe comprising a plurality of accurate sections, each section having spaced teeth along its peripheral edge, said teeth being thinner at their leading faces than at their trailing portions and extend radially beyond the peripheral edge of the flight, the leading faces of the teeth having at least portions thereof disposed rearwardly of a plane extending perpendicular to said axis of rotation and intersecting a trailing portion of a tooth disposed forwardly thereof in the direction of movement of the teeth.

EDMUND C. BITZER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Great Britain of 1909 

